Pursuit
by moegrrl
Summary: sequel to The Moment
1. Chapter 1

(Anyone But Me fanfic - sequel to The Moment - V/A femslash ~ whenever I'm through with a snippet I'll send it here so that I could commit to finishing up what I started.)

Aster POV

This wooing stuff was hard.

Especially when the woo-ee (snicker) was oblivious to the charms of the woo-er. Okaaay, that sounded ridiculous, even in my head.

If I am to court her...

Ick. Too tweed and tie and crumpets.

If Vivian's gonna be my girl (dimples flashed at that thought) I gotta get her game. So, classy and no sleazy one-liners. None of my schmooves. White roses to whet her appetite. Yellow roses to disarm her, then pink to tease her. Red roses when she's ready to be swept off her feet.

Aster smiled dreamily at her mac and cheese.

"I always suspected you were the adventurous sort, but that's kind of pushing it, isn't it?"

"Huh?" These days, she and Break were nearly inseparable as Aster picked Break's brain on everything Vivian related.

"It's an uneven relationship. You're human and it's a mac and cheese. What's gonna stop you from ordering another one, or whipping up a replacement? But I have to say, you're really breaking new ground here. From straight to lez to inanimate objects before hitting college." Sighing, Break deadpanned, "You're my hero."

Aster gave Break a withering look.

Break stared back nonplussed.

Freaked out by the unrepentant lunacy on Break's expression, she went back to poking her lunch, mumbling: "Weirdo."

"Supreme executive power..." Break began, in a faux British accent.

"Don't." Aster warned, holding up a finger.

"...derives from a mandate from the masses..."

"Do not finish that sentence!"

"...not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!" Break ended with a flourish, standing up suddenly to the surprise of the people eating at the other end of the table. One of them who recognized the quote started to applaud.

Break preened for a bit before settling down again.

"What is it with you and your constant need for attention?"

"Spam spam spam!" Break started to sing.

"Hey! Random quoting won't make it any better! And you there, don't encourage him!" Aster shot the guy at the end of the table a dirty look (the one that applauded) and pointed her plastic fork menacingly, when he began to dance to Break's singing. He shot his arms up in surrender.

P-M-S, Break mouthed to the guy. He was rather cute.

The guy responded with a silent 'Ah!' and brought his hands down.

"I saw that!"

'Will wonders never cease? Here is Aster Gaston, for once, early in class!' Aster thought ruefully to herself.

'If the principal knew that I only needed to find the right girl to motivate me they would have put pinups in all the rooms!'

Aster left Break batting eyelashes with the cutie who knew the Monty Python quotes. Before heading off to class she heard them flirting over Spamalot.

Aster peered into the classroom to see if Vivian was already there. She wasn't disappointed.

Vivian was alone with her nose buried in a novel, one of what seemed to be a vast library of them. A Twizzler hung loosely from Viv's lips, her brow was furrowed, and her eyes all but devoured the story. Aster thought she looked utterly adorable.

"You're gonna ruin your eyes like that."

Startled Viv dropped her Twizzler and stared wide eyed at the door where the voice came from.

Aster switched on the lights and walked into the room. She casually dropped her backpack on the seat beside Viv.

"You'll get eyestrain reading in the dim light." She went on when Viv just stared silently at her.

"Uh, yeah. Of course. Thanks." Viv awkwardly forced herself to speak, tension rolling off of her in waves.

Aster smiled gently instinctively trying to soothe the nerves she could feel coming out of the other girl.

"Watcha reading?"

'She's just trying to be friendly Viv. You do remember how to make friends right?' Vivian berated herself while she scrambled to get ahold of her emotions.

"Nothing special." She shrugged, while inwardly she winced at downplaying herself by default. 'She wouldn't want to talk to you if you're boring!'

"It's a translation of a French novel by Sebastian Japrisot. Uh, it's called 'A Very Long Engagement'." She dutifully showed Aster the cover, hastily taking the Twizzler from the pages where she'd been reading. Grateful that the tip she'd been gnawing at didn't manage to stain where it fell. Her being OC about her beloved books not waning despite her confusion in the presence of the person she'd been crushing on.

"Un long dimanche de fiançailles," Aster grinned. "I love that movie!"

Viv swooned at hearing Aster speak French. Later, she'd roll her eyes at herself for being cliché, but she was too busy melting into a puddle right now. "Wow, you speak French?"

"Bilingual." Aster confirmed while trying not to sound snotty about it. "My last name is Gaston afterall." At Vivian's blank look, Aster clarified: "Like the bad guy in 'Beauty and The Beast'


	2. Chapter 2

Viv listlessly looked around the moody interiors of the club wondering for the nth time why she wasn't home emoting to a looping playlist of Fiona Apple songs, her bare feet swung over the arm of a plump chair, going over her favorite passages in a well-thumbed book. She was nonchalantly nursing a sweating bottle of ginger ale trying to turn a blind eye to the rampant underage drinking that was casually going around her. There was a decent amount of customers in the club mostly of the hipster set between kids her age to those in college who tend to converge for cultish events like this intimate concert. The artist was excellent enough for everyone to know about, yet obscure enough to generate such a rabid fanbase that felt possessive about their indie discovery selling out.

A quiet buzz permeated the interiors of the nondescript industrial looking building which had a studied weary and utilitarian feel to it. The walls were naked red brick hung with posters of artsy Dutch and French films, and dotted with kitschy pieces featured on industrial shelving. These were highlighted by strategically placed rails of snazzy spotlights typical of European catalogs, but the rest of the club was cloaked in twilight with a bluish glow permeating from recessed lights near the plain concrete floor. Small tables and stackable chairs were scattered between the small bar and tiny dais on the far wall. Near the short corridor of the entrance were steel stairs to a loft overlooking the stage where there were comfortable couches in the corners, and for the benefit of the evening's performance two rows of monobloc chairs.

Viv had parked herself at the bar, and after getting a cool drink, faced the entrance to wait for Aster, a sneakered foot planted on the foot rail of her sturdy barstool with her drink held in the circle of her hand on the arm she had draped on the bar. She was wearing a t-shirt with a silkscreen print commemorating a concert she'd gone to, and faded but newly laundered jeans that hugged her hips but were comfortable at the leg without being bell bottomed. Since the weather was warmer, she just had on a little black vintage vest left open in front, with her dark hair spilling unhindered over her shoulders.

She'd arrived here a little over five minutes ago and watched as people started to enter initially alone or in pairs, until there was a steady trickle of arrivals that began to pool together as early comers waved their friends over to the respective spots they saved. Music thrummed through the excited murmur. Viv had a vaguely uneasy feeling that maybe she should be saving a good spot for her and Aster before the place got packed and they'd be left to crane their necks to see the modest stage.

She and Aster had become fast friends when they discovered similar tastes in film and music. Being in the same class helped to solidify their budding friendship, especially when Aster insisted on them being partners in every activity assigned. There wasn't a shy bone in Aster's body and Vivian found herself unable to say no to movie marathons, studying together in the library, and visiting museums. So far this was their first music-related activity together. Vivian wasn't the type to go out much, but she couldn't resist spending more time with Aster.

While she was debating internally whether to save some seats or keep an eye on the entrance, she recognized the driving beat to one of her newly fave songs blast through the speakers. Unconsciously, her head started to bounce with the cocky bass guitar and a pleased smile dawned on her face. That was when Aster stalked through the corridor as if on cue to the sexy music.

"_Hello again, friend of a friend. I knew you when_," sang a strong female alto with quiet menace. "_Our common goal was waiting for the world to end._"

Aster looked sleek and edgy in black leather pants, pointy boots with sharp heels, and a tiny black sleeveless top that rode up to show a bit of mid riff.

_"Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend. You crack the whip, shape shift and trick the past again." _

Vivian felt a bit lightheaded as Aster quickly spotted her and graced her with a slow smile. Viv gripped her bottle of ginger ale as Aster made her way to the bar.

The cynical tempo of the song segued into an addicting refrain, the lyrics crooned: "_I'll send you my love on a wire. Lift you up, everytime, everyone. Ooooh...pulls away...ooooh ~ from youuuu..._"

Viv felt her insides do a slow spin. Her pulse kept time with the beat. She braced herself for impact as she felt the heat of that blinding smile approaching. Aster was merciless. Charm oozed effortlessly from Aster and quickly spun it's spell on VIvian. Tonight, Aster looked like the promise of a Calvin Klein ad fulfilled - only, in leather.

_"Got balls of steel. Got an automobile for a minimum wage. Got real estate I'm buying it all up in outer space."_

Aster was saying something, Viv was sure of it, but her brain had scrambled faster than you can say "sunny side up" when Aster had entered the club that she couldn't lend a single neuron to work on translating sounds to speech. She had pretty much blanked out like the first time she saw Aster. Suddenly she felt warmth cover her wrist and she looked dumbly at it. Aster's hand was encircling that wrist and was gently tugging on it. She realized that Aster was nodding to a direction that they should be going and she mutely stood up and let the other girl lead the way, her unfinished drink still in her grip.

Vivian felt a bit lightheaded as they threaded through the thickening crowd. Aster was leading her up the stairs and Viv worried that Aster could feel the quickening of her pulse. Aster led her to a cozy love seat at the far side of the loft that was somewhat secluded by a huge leafy plant. It was moved to face the rail and gave an unobscured view of the stage.

Aster was directing her blinding smile to a guy who pretty much looked perfect from every angle. He towered over the girls and his warm chocolate eyes were twinkling at Aster. Vivian gave him a dark look and cursed him from the toes of his stylish shoes to the roots of his carelessly mussed locks. She gave a brief nod when Aster gestured towards her, which Viv's distracted mind accurately interpreted as Aster introducing her to Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. Viv turned towards the stage to help quell her growing dislike of this hapless stranger as jealousy hit hard for the first time in Vivian's colorful life. If she hadn't looked away she wouldn't have missed Aster slipping the guy a generous tip and his knowing look when he slipped away.

Aster had pulled down Vivian with her to the plush seat. As they sank on the velvety leather it felt like it was embracing them in its generous arms. Aster casually placed the wrist she was cradling onto her lap. Aster knew by the glazed look that Vivian had, that she had hit a homerun with the outfit she had agonized over for hours. She grinned wolfishly as Viv nervously took a long sip of her ale.

She gently nudged Vivian shoulder to shoulder, "This ok?"

Vivian didn't exactly know what was ok, but could say without a doubt that everything right now was beyond ok. Everything was pretty damned amazing. Swallowing to wet her dry throat that didn't seem to be getting any moisture despite the huge gulp she just took, she mustered a small smile, "Thanks for inviting me. I've never been here before, but this place looks amazing." You look amazing, she silently added.

"My cousin owns this place. You just met him."

"Tall Dark and Handsome?", Vivian exclaimed before she could stop herself.

Aster chuckled, "Yeah, I wonder how he grew up so tall. That brat used to be such a small kid."

Viv felt guilty for not being more sociable when Aster introduced them, so she tried to make up for it by saying something nice about the guy. "Good genes. Are all of you so blindingly beautiful?"

"You think I'm beautiful?" Aster asked slyly.

Viv winced, she was trying to be natural but Aster always left her tongue-tied. She opted for honesty, "I do."

It was Aster's turn to be lost for words. She felt herself glow at the compliment. Glow, of all things! Vivian's sincerity and shy smile totally disarmed her and whatever witty repartee she had planned died on her lips. Her grin was so wide, her cheeks began to ache. This was pretty much the most perfect night she had ever had...and the band hadn't even started yet.

the song is "black sheep" by metric; all rights reserved to them; no infringement meant and i'm not earning anything by referring to it in this fic...

this is all for now, writing while watching j-drama is seriously hard! LOL.


End file.
